The Diamond!!

The McMahon family had a big day yesterday:  Logan's first overnight without his parents so they could climb the Diamond!  Logan's adventure was a sleep over at Sue's house.  I dropped him off on Thursday night and we picked him up when we got back to town on Friday.  It sounded like they had a great time.  They went out to lunch, went for a walk, played with the dogs.  Sue and Logan both looked rested and happy when we arrived.  What else can you ask for?

Logan helped me pack up my stuff Thursday afternoon.  Am I the only parent in the world that hopes their kid becomes a climber?  Maybe not, but I'm certainly in the minority, I'd guess.

Helping Mom pack

Brian and I had a great day together up on Long's Peak.  This is really where we connect (in the outdoors, that is) and together we shine in this environment.  Laughing and playing "remember when" about our many adventures/mis-adventures/near-adventures.  I was feeling great yesterday, perhaps the best I've ever felt up there.  Not sure why... could be the running training or the fact that I ate and drank a ton throughout the day or maybe it was just dumb luck.  Regardless, it was a stellar day.

We climbed most of a variation to D7.  We rappelled with one pitch to go.  There was some thunder not too far away and I didn't want to get caught in a huge storm on the face.  Turns out we probably could have finished the climb and returned to the ground before the rain came in. 

After climbing the North Chimney, we took a moment for this self portrait on Broadway.  This is before the real climbing begins.

Racking up on Broadway

The Diamond is the east face of Long's Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park.  There is an "easy", walking route to the top of Long's which is quite popular.  As we pulled into the parking lot at 2:30am, there was a group of 40-50 (literally!) people huddled at the trailhead.  As you approach the Diamond, you always see a steady stream of headlamps before you turn off the tourist trail.  Usually, you can count on sharing your Diamond day with just a few other climbing parties at best.  Yesterday, there were 12 people climbing the Casual Route which was pretty remarkable and a little annoying in the North Chimney. 

I took the following photos as we were leaving.  The weather did move in eventually...we hiked out in a rainstorm.

The Diamond

Parting shot